It's really just an attempt to break the pirate's spirit, or sometimes it's just a cruel joke. I'm sure developers spend their days asking questions like "Why the fuck would someone even want to play some shitty version of our game?" It isn't even worth worrying about.

Here is an opinion that ISN'T someone telling you to start with their favorite FF or the first one they played:

Start with the SNES version of FFIV (called FFII) and play FFVI and FFV next in that order.Now if you liked FFIV the most play FFIX next. (Both games mainly focus on their stories, have very linear gameplay and barely any optinons for character customization due to their characters being locked in their job classes)Now if you liked FFV the most play FFVIII next. (Both games have a focus character customization and if you actually care about their...Comment too long. Click here to view the full text.

You obviously start with FF7, the most popular one and also the easiest and most accessible one. Perfect for newcomers. If you are already more into sprite-based games, starting with FF6 is the main alternative.

Emulation is great though, the problem is that most people are too stupid to use them without ruining the game in some way. ie. using the wrong aspect ratio, setting a higher resolution than the game was made for, using bad sound plugins, playing games on computers that can't run them at full speed, using fast forward buttons, etc.

Honestly I'm not really liking how FFXV is turning out. The boybandness is weird and the gameplay of the demo seems uninspired. Can FFXV-kun resist this thread? Find out on this episode of Dragon Ball /v/!